This invention relates generally to a Weapons Training Simulator System and more particularly to improvements in the sensing apparatus for such a system integrated with control function apparatus.
In small arms training using either actual rifle firing or simulated firing, the inexperienced shooter must learn to hold, aim, and fire. Each of these tasks presents unique difficulties and various techniques and devices have been developed over the years to help novice shooters acquire the skills needed to accurately and repetitively hit designated targets under differing conditions.
Holding a rifle steady not only is difficult to do but it is even more difficult for an instructor to assess the probable causes of unsteadiness. In training which will utilize actual rifle firing, the trainee reviews both illustrations and demonstrations of correct posture before practicing under the watchful eye of an instructor who by careful observation can detect gross errors. When the trainee has become reasonably proficient in holding, he proceeds to dry-firing practice where the trainee aims an unloaded weapon at a point target while maintaining a coin or flat washer balanced on the rifle barrel. This "Dime/washer" exercise provides performance feedback to both the instructor and trainee. Lastly, the trainee is told to aim the rifle at a target, observe the position of his sights on the target, and try to hold steady.
After becoming familiar with "holding", the trainee is introduced to "aiming" where three methods are commonly used. The first method like in the "holding" training uses illustrations, some static and some where the trainee moves a weapon front sight into position on a target. An actual rifle is not used.
The second "aiming" method is called the "target box" exercise. In this method, the rifle is immobilized in a cradle while the instructor/coach sits on a wooden box several meters in front of the rifle. The coach holds a movable target against the front of the box. In the center of the target is a small pin-hole while behind the target, taped to the box front, is a sheet of blank white paper. The trainee shooter looks through the sights of the immobilized rifle and directs the coach to move the target until the sights are aimed at the target center. The coach then puts a pin-hole in the white paper through the hole in the center of the target. This exercise is repeated several times and then the spread of the pin-holes in the white paper is checked which enables the coach to determine if the trainee can acquire the same aiming point repeatedly. By reversing roles and comparing the position of the pin-holes, the instructor can determine if the trainee is using a correct aiming point.
The third "aiming" training technique uses a so called "Cheater Device" with which the instructor can observe the trainee's sighting as it takes place. A small pane of tinted glass, set in a mounting bracket, is positioned just behind the rear sight at a 45.degree. angle to the line of sight and functions as an image divider. The trainee can hold and aim the rifle normally, his sight being only slightly dimmed by the tinted glass.
While the shooter aims, the instructor, positioned to one side of the rifle, can observe the trainees aiming point reflected off the tinted glass. Poor resolution, small size of the reflected image and the required visual accuity in the instructor, are limitations of this method.
Firing is the third skill to be learned and the one most difficult to acquire. In firing, the trainee must continue holding and aiming while the trigger is pulled causing the hammer to fall and the rifle to fire. Gun shyness causes flinching and bucking as the trainee makes sudden movements in anticipation of the coming recoil and shot noise. Sqeezing the trigger is tricky; movement of any part of the trainee's body other than the tip of the trigger finger will cause the rifle's point of aim to shift. Many missed shots occur because of small shifts in the aiming pooint during the 0.1 second or less interval before firing. Five methods are commonly used to train a novice in firing skills.
The "dime/washer" exercise described above in connection with "holding" is also useful in firing training. In addition to holding the rifle still, the trainee now attempts to pull the trigger without causing the dime or washer to fall off the barrel. As with the holding exercise, no bullets are used in this exercize; the rifle must be cocked and the dime or washer replaced after each trigger operation.
In a second firing exercise, the trainee practices operating the trigger of a cocked unloaded rifle while carefully watching the front sight's position on a target. Both the first and second exercise work on what is called "trigger control" which is defined as what happens to aiming during trigger squeeze and, "follow through" which is defined as what happens immediately after the hammer falls. Properly executed, the front sight will remain motionless during trigger squeeze and after the hammer falls. The first firing exercise provides coarse information to instructor and trainee, the second exercise provides finer information but only to the trainee.
A third firing exercise which tests the trainees "follow-through" is one known as the "ball and dummy" exercise. A magazine is randomly loaded with live (ball) and dummy ammunition. The instructor then watches the trainee fire. If the shooter correctly squeezes and follows through, the rifle will remain still when a dummy round is in the chamber and the trigger pulled. Inadequately trained or practiced shooters will noticeably lower the front end of the rifle in anticipation of a recoil.
A fourth firing exercise termed "shot group analysis" can expose shooters or trainees who only occasionally fail to operate the trigger correctly or follow through properly. A tight group of bullet holes in the target with a few scattered shots indicates the shooter is occasionally moving the rifle before the bullet (round) leaves the barrel. Stray shots low and right are typical of left hand shooters and low and left are typical of right handed shooters.
A final live fire firing exercise has the trainee mark after each shot where he thinks the round hit the target based on his perceived sight picture at the moment of firing. He then receives and marks the actual hit point of the shot and compares it with his perceived point. Comparison of these two points over a series of shots helps the trainee learn and understand the relationship between his rifles sights and the bullets trajectory. This both encourages trainee's to concentrate on the sight picture as they fire and can also provide information for diagnostic analysis of the above described firing faults as well as the "zero" of the weapon. A random discrepancy between each pair of marked shots indicates slight alignment or holding errors, consistent displacement between pairs indicates an unzeroed rifle and, sporadic discrepancy between pairs indicates one or more of flinching, bucking or trigger control faults.
Although millions of shooters have acquired some level of competence by training with these methods, there are obvious shortcomings. Principal among the shortcomings are cost and skilled instructor availability. Both the cost of the rounds of small arms ammunition and of instructor training time to train an expert rifleman is very high. It has been found that expert trainers with unlimited time and ammunition can, using these conventional training methods, produce a quality rifleman but, time, ammunition and expert trainers are in short supply in today's training environment.
Various devices and methods employing these methods to assist in the training process have been suggested and developed. Among those have been devices to simulate shot sound and recoil to impart realism to the training process when not using actual weapon firing. In particular, the U.S. Patent of Linton, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,860, describes a shot sound synthesizer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,525 also of Linton, et al describes a weapon recoil simulator. Recoil simulation to achieve realism has also been described by various others including Arenson in U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,530 who imparts an electrical shock to the trainee and Swisher in U.S. Pat. No. 2,398,813 who uses an electro-magnet powered hammer to move the handgrips of an automatic weapon simulator. Still others have suggested various electro-optical aiming-target designation systems useful in training simulators. Among these are Blomquist, et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,340 and Coxe in U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,007, both of whom describes quadrant detectors utilizing a blurred image of the target scene on the detector.
While each of the foregoing enumerated devices and others have attacked various parts of the training problem, none have attempted to provide in a single device and system the means for overall training of a novice with only minimum intervention by an instructor.